pTatin3D
pTatin3D is designed to help scientists understand how the Earth's lithosphere evolves over geological time scales spanning millions of years. The program serves as an advanced digital modeling platform where researchers can simulate the complex, long-term processes that shape our planet's surface and interior structure.
The code specializes in modeling major geological processes including subduction (where oceanic plates descend beneath continental plates) and continental rifting (where continents gradually separate to form new ocean basins). While these processes occur over time scales that are imperceptible during human lifespans, they are responsible for creating mountain ranges, ocean basins, and fundamentally reshaping continental configurations.
pTatin3D employs advanced computational methods to track the movement and deformation of different rock types under extreme pressure and temperature conditions within the Earth's interior. The program is designed for geologists, geophysicists, and Earth scientists who seek to address fundamental questions about planetary evolution and test hypotheses regarding the formation of major geological features.
Evolution of topography ( H ) and basin structures from a rifting experiment ∼ 10 Myr after breakup has occurred.
Upper panel outlines the passive margins (topographic lows), which are accurately simulated via the deformed free surface. Lower panel shows the second invariant of the strain- rate tensor ( e II ), which highlights the complex geometry of cross-cutting.
